How water chemistry is shifting researchers' thoughts on where life might have arisen, and a new model to tackle climate change equitably and economically.In this episode:00:46 A shallow start to life on Earth?It’s long been thought that life on Earth first appeared in the oceans. However, the chemical complexities involved in creating biopolymers in water has led some scientists to speculate that shallow pools on land were actually the most likely location for early life.News Feature: How the first life on Earth survived its biggest threat — water07:44 CoronapodThe COVID-19 pandemic has massively shifted the scientific landscape, changing research and funding priorities across the world. While this shift was necessary for the development of things like vaccines, there are concerns that the ‘covidization’ of research could have long-term impacts on other areas of research.News: Scientists fear that ‘covidization’ is distorting research20:45 Research HighlightsThe Hayabusa2 mission successfully delivers a tiny cargo of asteroid material back to Earth, and a team in China claims to have made the first definitive demonstration of computational ‘quantum advantage’.Nature News: Physicists in China challenge Google’s ‘quantum advantage’22:38 Calculating carbonLimiting carbon emissions is essential to tackling climate change. However, working out how to do this in a way that is fair to nations worldwide is notoriously difficult. Now, researchers have developed a model that gives some surprising insights in how to equitably limit carbon.Research Article: Bauer et al.News and Views: Trade-offs for equitable climate policy assessed29:08 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, bioluminescent Australian animals, and the collapse of the Arecibo telescope.ABC News: Biofluorescent Australian mammals and marsupials take scientists by surprise in accidental discoveryNature News: Gut-wrenching footage documents Arecibo telescope’s collapseSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erna Solberg on fisheries, fossil fuels and the future of the oceans.This week, world leaders are announcing a series of pledges to protect and sustainably use the world’s oceans. The pledges form the crowning achievement of the ‘High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy’ a multinational group formed back in 2018. The panel has sought to bring together research, published in a number of so-called ‘blue papers’ and special reports by scientists, policy- and legal-experts from around the world – all with the ear of 14 participating world leaders.Erna Solberg, the prime minister of Norway, co-led the Panel. In this podcast, she speaks with Springer Nature’s editor-in-chief Philip Campbell about the panel’s work.The ocean in humanity’s future: read all of Nature's content on the Ocean PanelWorld View: Science can boost ocean health and human prosperitySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A trio of genes may be key to making cells young again, and ultra precise measurement of a fundamental physics constant.In this episode:00:47 Reversing ageingResearchers claim to have identified a method to revert cells in mice eyes back to a younger state.Research article: Lu et al.News and Views: Sight restored by turning back the epigenetic clockNews: Reversal of biological clock restores vision in old mice09:39 CoronapodWe discuss emergency-use approvals for COVID-19 vaccines. Approvals are coming in fast, which presents a dilemma for scientists - they’re critically needed, but what could it mean for research?News: Why emergency COVID-vaccine approvals pose a dilemma for scientistsNews: The UK has approved a COVID vaccine — here’s what scientists now want to know27:04 Research HighlightsAncient megalodon nurseries, and predicting mud volcanoes.Research Highlight: Even Earth’s largest-ever sharks needed nurseries for their babiesResearch Highlight: How mud volcanoes are born under the sea29:38 Fine measurement of the fine-structure constantThe fine structure constant is a fundamental number that gives researchers an understanding of the laws of the universe. For years, scientists have been trying to get better measurements of it. This week, we see the most precise measurement yet.Research Article: Morel et al.News and Views: Fine-structure constant tests standard model35:00 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, a holistic plan to tackle climate challenges, and the rarest pollinator of them all - a lizard.Washington Post: An ancient people with a modern climate planThe Guardian: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scientists have finally confirmed the existence of a CNO cycle fusion reaction in the Sun, and why women’s contraception research needs a reboot.In this episode:00:47 Detection of CNO neutrinosSince the 1930s it has been theorised that stars have a specific fusion reaction known as the CNO cycle, but proof has been elusive. Now, a collaboration in Italy report detection of neutrinos that show that the CNO cycle exists.Research article: The Borexino CollaborationNews and Views: Neutrino detection gets to the core of the Sun08:48 CoronapodWe discuss the search for the animal origin of SARS-CoV-2, with researchers raiding their freezer draws to see if any animals carry similar viruses, and the latest vaccine results.News: Coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic virus discovered in Japan and CambodiaNews: Why Oxford’s positive COVID vaccine results are puzzling scientists19:32 Research HighlightsHow sleep patterns relate to ageing, and a solar-powered steam sterilizer.Research Highlight: For better health, don’t sleep your ageResearch Highlight: Technology for sterilizing medical instruments goes solar21:50 Getting women’s contraception research unstuckSince the 1960s there has been little progress on research into women’s contraceptives. This week in Nature, researchers argue that this needs to change.Comment: Reboot contraceptives research — it has been stuck for decades29:35 Briefing ChatWe discuss a highlight from the Nature Briefing. This time, a tool to summarise papers.Nature News: tl;dr: this AI sums up research papers in a sentenceTry the TLDR tool yourself!Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:44 An increase in survival ratesThe COVID-19 mortality rate is falling around the world. We discuss the reasons behind this – the role of new drugs, the treatment strategies the have been learned, or re-learned, and the ever-present worry that these hard won victories could be undone by rising infection rates.News Feature: Why do COVID death rates seem to be falling?10:53 More vaccine good newsThis week, Moderna released preliminary results for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the third positive indication from a string of vaccine announcements. Although the full data are yet to be published, do these results give us more reasons to feel hopeful?News: COVID vaccine excitement builds as Moderna reports third positive resultSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scientists have grave concerns over ethical and societal impacts of facial-recognition technology. In this surveillance special, we dig into the details.In this episode:03:24 Standing up against ‘smart cities’Cities across the globe are installing thousands of surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition technology. Although marketed as a way to reduce crime, researchers worry that these systems are ripe for exploitation and are calling for strict regulations on their deployment.Feature: Resisting the rise of facial recognition17:44 The ethics of researching facial recognition technologyDespite concerns surrounding consent and use, researchers are still working on facial recognition technology. Can this sort of work be justified? We hear some of the debates going on in academia about this field of research.Feature: The ethical questions that haunt facial-recognition research25:02 What do researchers actually think?Nature surveyed 480 researchers who have published papers on facial recognition, AI and computer science. The results revealed that many researchers think there’s a problem.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New fossil finds and new techniques reveal evidence that early animals were more complex than previously thought.The Cambrian explosion, around 541 million years ago, has long been regarded as a pivotal point in evolutionary history, as this is when the ancient ancestors of most of today’s animals made their first appearances in the fossil record.Before this was a period known as the Ediacaran – a time when the world was believed to be populated by strange, simple organisms. But now, modern molecular research techniques, and some newly discovered fossils, are providing evidence that some of these organisms were actually animals, including ones with sophisticated features like legs and guts.This is an audio version of our feature: These bizarre ancient species are rewriting animal evolution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Researchers try to unpick the complex relationship between sensory pollutants and bird reproduction, and how to combat organised crime in fisheries.In this episode:00:46 Sensory pollution and bird reproductionLight- and noise-pollution have been shown to affect the behaviour of birds. However, it’s been difficult to work out whether these behavioural changes have led to bird species thriving or declining. Now, researchers have assembled a massive dataset that can begin to give some answers. Research article: Senzaki et al.10:17 CoronapodInterim results from a phase III trial show compelling evidence that a coronavirus vaccine candidate can prevent COVID-19. However, amid the optimism there remain questions to be answered – we discuss these, and what the results might mean for other vaccines in development. News: What Pfizer’s landmark COVID vaccine results mean for the pandemic23:29 Research HighlightsA tiny bat breaks a migration record, and researchers engineer a mouse’s sense of place. Research Highlight: The record-setting flight of a bat that weighs less than a toothbrush; Research Article: Robinson et al.25:39 Organised crime in fisheriesWhen you think of fishing, organised crime probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. However, billions of dollars every year from the fishing industry are lost to criminal enterprises. We discuss some of the impacts and what can be done about it. Research Article: Witbooi et al.32:13 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, a time-capsule discovered on the Irish coast provides a damning indictment of Arctic warming, and some human remains challenge the idea of ‘man-the-hunter’. The Guardian: Arctic time capsule from 2018 washes up in Ireland as polar ice melts; Science: Woman the hunter: Ancient Andean remains challenge old ideas of who speared big gameSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Astronomers pin down the likely origins of mysterious fast radio bursts, and the latest on what the US election means for science.In this episode:00:46 The origins of mysterious fast radio burstsThe detection of a brief but enormously-powerful radio burst originating from within the Milky Way could help researchers answer one of astronomy’s biggest mysteries.Research article: Bochenek et al.; News: Astronomers spot first fast radio burst in the Milky Way07:59 CoronapodAt the start of the pandemic, there were fears that schools could become hotspots for infections. We discuss the evidence suggesting that this is unlikely to be the case, and the rates of infection in children of different ages.News: Why schools probably aren’t COVID hotspots18:34 Research HighlightsOctopuses taste with touch, and a tool to watch dangerously-reactive metals grow.Research Highlight: How octopuses taste with their arms — all eight of them; Research Highlight: How to make violently reactive metals and watch them grow21:28 An update on the US electionAlthough the winner of this year’s US election is unclear, we discuss the current situation and what it might mean for science.News: Scientists aghast as hopes for landslide Biden election victory vanish28:58 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, ancient genomes reveal the migration of man’s best friend, and a new polio vaccine looks set to receive emergency approval.News: Ancient dog DNA reveals 11,000 years of canine evolution; News: New polio vaccine poised to get emergency WHO approvalSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Science and politics are not easy bedfellows - "Stick to the science" is a three part series which aims to find out why.In the third and final episode we try to get to the bottom of how journalists, communicators and policymakers influence how science is perceived. We discuss the danger of politicization and ask the question - can science be part of the political narrative without compromising its values?Tell us what you think of this series: https://go.nature.com/2HzXVLcThis episode was produced by Nick Howe, with editing from Noah Baker and Benjamin Thompson. It featured: Deborah Blum, Bruce Lewenstein, Dan Sarewitz, Hannah Schmid-Petri, Shobita Parthasarathy, and Beth Simone Noveck. Further ReadingThe great fish pain debatePoliticization of mask wearingMasks workDonald Trump used a quote from Anthony Fauci to falsely suggest Fauci approved of his actions in the pandemicComparing Norway and Sweden in their coronavirus combating actionsBeth Simone Noveck argues for more open and transparent governanceSolving Public Problems, by Beth Simone NoveckSmart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing, by Beth Simone NoveckThe Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.